He has had key responsibilities since joining, including contributing to the development of the NBN Co's 2010 Corporate plan and being the company's lead negotiator for its final deal with Telstra, which sees the incumbent telco lease its ducts to NBN Co and move its customers onto the new fibre network. He became the acting CFO after Beaufret left.

Prior to joining NBN Co, he spent a decade at KPMG and another decade at Macquarie Bank.

"Robin is a high-calibre executive who has already made an important contribution to the NBN. His knowledge of the business and his extensive experience in financial management will be invaluable as the project moves from the planning and design stage to the large-scale roll-out of Australia's largest infrastructure project," NBN Co CEO Mike Quigley said in a statement. NBN Co had conducted a global search, but liked Payne best out of all the candidates.